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Himachal poll results: BJP set to form govt; Virbhadra wins from Arki

SNS Web | New delhi | December 18, 2017 10:16 am

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Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh won from Arki constituency, even as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to form government in the hill state, as per trends by Election Commission of India (ECI).

The Bharatiya Janata Party needs 35 seats to control the Himachal Assembly. Needing 35 seats to control the 68-member House, the Bharatiya Janata Party was on course to win 44 the Congress had bagged 11 seats and led in 10 others. An Independent and the CPI-M got one seat each.

The saffron party won its first seat by defeating Congress cabinet Minister Prakash Chaudhary from Balh in Mandi district with a big margin. BJP’s Inder Singh Gandhi won this seat.

In Himachal Pradesh, all the 68 Assembly seats went to the polls on 9 November to decide the fate of 337 candidates including Chief Ministerial nominees Virbhadra Singh (Congress) and Prem Kumar Dhumal (Bharatiya Janata Party).

A total of 37,83,580 people voted — a record 75.28 per cent polling.

Earlier, various exit polls by news agencies had indicated the BJP’s return to power with an absolute majority, political observers said it was a neck-and-neck contest between the Congress and the BJP.

The state has alternately elected Congress and BJP governments since 1985. In 2012, the Congress won 36 seats and the BJP 26. Independents won six seats.